Big Second Half Fuels St. Norbert Past Cornell

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - St. Norbert College turned in a virtuoso performance in the second half to key a 64-47 rout of defending Midwest Conference champion Cornell College at the Multi-Sport Center.

The Green Knights (6-1, 3-0 MWC) trailed 23-20 at halftime before outscoring the Rams (6-2, 3-1) by a 44-24 margin in the final 20 minutes. St. Norbert shot 62.5 percent (15-for-24) from the floor and had just five turnovers in the second half.

St. Norbert snapped a 28-28 tie on a Jill Kleiman 3-pointer with 15:58 left, and the Green Knights never were tied or trailed again. A pair of Taylor Dicus free throws on the next possession trimmed the Rams' deficit to one, but St. Norbert went on a 9-3 run to take a 40-33 lead, finished by a Lana Tomashek 3-pointer with 11:24 to go.

The Green Knights led 48-41 with 6:01 left, but Kleiman canned another 3-pointer for a 51-41 lead wuith 5:36 to go. Brianna Byrne's conventional three-point play, off a Kleiman assist, with 4:50 left put St. Norbert ahead 54-41 and salted away the win.

St. Norbert got off to a good start, leading by as many as seven points in the early going. The Green Knights led until Cornell took its first lead at 21-20 with 2:38 left before halftime. St. Norbert did not score in the final 6:21 of the first half, but Cornell managed just eight points during that time to lead 23-20 at the break.

Kleiman pumped in 21 points, matching her total from the first six games of the season. Kleiman made 8 of 17 field-goal attempts and was 4-for-9 from beyond the three-point arc. Morgan Heim added 12 points and nine rebounds, while Lana Tomashek had 11 points.

St. Norbert shot 41.8 percent (23-for-55) from the floor for the game, and held a commanding 44-31 rebounding edge.

Cornell was led by Dicus' 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Rams shot 35.3 percent (18-for-51) from the floor was were 1-for-12 (8.3 percent) from beyond the three-point arc.